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World Action on Salt. Sugar & Health

World Awareness Weeks

It’s time to shine the spotlight on SALT  

Regularly eating too much salt can increase our risk of developing high blood pressure.    

High blood pressure is the main cause of strokes, and a major cause of heart attacks, the two biggest causes of death around the world, responsible for 17.9 million deaths annually. Most cases are entirely preventable, and so it’s vital we all take measures to improve our health and prevent these events from happening in the first place.

Reducing salt in our diets is one of the quickest and most effective ways to reduce our blood pressure and improve our health. What we don’t often realise is just how much salt we are eating because most of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy.    

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends we consume no more than 5g a day, yet globally, we are consuming far more than this. If population salt intake reduces to 5g a day, 1.65 million deaths could be prevent from cardiovascular disease each year.  

Regardless of our age, gender or ethnicity, we all stand to benefit from reducing our salt intake. The earlier we adapt to a lower salt diet, the less damage we create for our hearts, but with blood pressure in children rising, it's clear that salt is not just an issue for older generations.  

Over the course of the week, we will be bringing the spotlight back on salt for the sake of all our health, and highlighting how the salt present in everyday foods really add up.   

We will be calling for the food industry, including the eating out of home sector, to do more to reduce the amount of salt they add to our food, including providing us with healthier options, and encouraging the public to make small changes to their eating, cooking and purchasing habits. 

If you would like to be involved this year we would love to hear from you! 

Please get in touch: wash@qmul.ac.uk  

Support our campaign and join the conversation on Twitter: #SaltAwarenessWeek 

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